Cats

On the way home from school today I encountered an interesting situation. A local woman was sitting on her scooter looking up at a a ledge on the security building. I noticed that on the upper level was a cat, gentling wagging its tail, staring down at its master. I, the brave champion of good decided that I would aid this woman.  

My first attempt was to try to scale the wall so that I could poke the frightened creature, perhaps scaring it just enough to leap from the heights to the waiting arms of its master. I could not climb high enough, and tumbled to the ground below. The idea of terrifying the beast from its perch was still nestled firmly in my brain, so I asked the lady to accompany to find some sort of poking device.

In the utility shed, buried beneath piles of cleaning equipment and old tools was just the device we were looking for; a long yellow  broomless broom handle. I squealed in delight at my good fortune in finding such an appropriate object.

We dashed back to the marooned animal only to discover, that the animal had climbed back down! The kind woman rushed and gathered the creature back in her arms. She showered me with words of thanks. I bore the praise with the patience and humility of a comic book hero. I bowed deeply, and walked towards home.

After a few steps I once again heard the lady's voice. She cried "laoshi!" (Teacher). I turned around, puzzled as to why she was still concerned. She offered me a gift for my service, a dish of bread (see photo). I graciously accepted this gesture. She tried to offer me the rest of her lunch, but I refused. A true servant can only accept so much.